Federal government could tell you when to drive if carbon price law stands, court told

A view of the outside of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Toronto. Interested Canadians have a rare opportunity this week to watch Ontario's top court sort out a federal-provincial legal battle over carbon pricing. It is the first time in more than a decade cameras are being allowed in the Court of Appeal to live stream an event. (Colin Perkel/The Canadian Press)

The federal government could decide on everything. In fact, according to the court, the federal government could tell you when to drive if the carbon pricing law remains in effect. For its part, Ontario argues that the tax is unconstitutional.

There is no doubt that if you meet your fiancé the federal government will end up with the power to regulate almost all facets of life, such as when you can drive or where you can live. Of course, this is only if your law is allowed to curb harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

It should be noted that Ottawa’s climate change law is really broad. Thus, an Ontario government attorney said at the start of a four-day hearing in the Court of Appeal, which would give the federal government powers that would be destabilizing for Canada in the name of curbing the cumulative effects of globalization. Warming emissions. In this way, Josh Hunter expressed before a panel of five judges, “They could regulate where you live, how often you drive your car”.

A law that harms

It is necessary to point out that Saskatchewan presents its legal case, arguing that the federal carbon tax is unconstitutional. Meanwhile, Ottawa argues that the fact that one province has not imposed a carbon tax will harm others.

Even so, before a panel of five judges, Hunter continued to express himself. In this way, he points out that Ontario’s constitutional challenge to the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Price Act was not conceived as a debate on the realities or dangers of global warming. In fact, he considers that what is at stake is what level of government has the power to face the problem.

It is necessary to emphasize that the federal law imposes a charge on gasoline and other fossil fuels, as well as industrial polluters. Likewise, the law applies only in provinces that do not have a carbon pricing scheme that complies with national standards: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick.

Similarly, the judges repeatedly pressed Hunter to explain what Ottawa should do if a province does not want to address greenhouse gas emissions, which undermines other provinces.